


It Is A Manifold Thing

by Artemis1000



Series: Cassian Appreciation Week 2018 [1]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Rebel Alliance, Recruitment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-16 15:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15440397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis1000/pseuds/Artemis1000
Summary: The Rebellion is many things to many people and Cassian has learned to tell them what they need to hear.





	It Is A Manifold Thing

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 1 of Cassian Andor Appreciation Week - "Rebellion" and "Dreams"

“Why should I?” the bounty hunter scoffed. “I don’t owe anything to your Rebellion.”

Cassian forced the scorn down, reaffixing his easy-going smile before it even had a chance to waver. “It’s not just my rebellion. It’s yours. It’s everybody’s rebellion. It’s where you can make it into the history files. If you join at the right time and fight in the right battles you will become a hero.”

If you confronted people with the reality of their own wrongdoings and failings, you had to work through the defensiveness, the lashing out that followed, and that was if they cared at all. The results might be more satisfying but Cassian neither had the temperament nor the inclination to talk anyone through their soul-searching.

Appealing to their vanity, however, served you well with many.

He leaned towards the merchant captain, a conspiratorial grin curling at his lips. “Let’s be honest here,” he scoffed, “the Empire’s not going to stop with their plans of Imperialization and stricter taxation and sure, they can be bribed, but give it five years and you won’t have any credits left once you’re done bribing all these patrols. Think of the profits you could make under laxer Republic rule.”

Others responded better to appeals to their greed.

He crouched in front of the scared teenager with haunted eyes and offered his ungloved hand to her. “Come with me. There are people who want to make sure no other families have to suffer like yours.”

Sometimes you had to still their hunger for hope.

And sometimes you had to promise them salvation.

“It’s not too late, Ric.” He placed a hand on the soldier’s shoulder and gave him a tight, encouraging smile. “You can save a hundred lives for every one you took.” He squeezed his shoulder. “I know you enlisted for the right reasons. You can still be the man you wanted to be.”

When it came down to it, recruiting was the easiest part of Cassian Andor’s job. Everybody had a price. A good recruiter told you not what you wanted, but what you needed to hear.

“Aren’t we telling them lies?” he had once asked General Draven when he was young and idealistic, and the promises of his own recruitment were fresh on his mind.

“Not lies, Andor. The Rebellion can be many things to many people.”

So he embraced this truth as one and became skilled at showing people exactly the opportunities they needed to see.

It wasn’t until he braced himself for one last mission with no hope of return, that he clung once more to the recruitment speech Davits Draven had given to the teenage boy he wanted to leave the war on Fest behind for larger, even crueler battles.

It had been a simple speech, far bolder than anything Cassian would dare to risk even now with all his years of experience. Draven had simply held his gaze and told him, “I know you don’t want to leave, Andor, but you know it isn’t about you.”

_It isn’t about you._

He had clung to this truth every time he tore out another part of his soul, every time he added to his count of scars or smiled at a man who called him friend only to shoot him in the back. He clung to it as he waited for death - when he understood that not even his own salvation mattered, only that he had done his duty.

_It isn’t about you._

The Rebellion could be many things to many people – but to some of them, it would always be everything.


End file.
